Clothes stick



F 151. FIE.E

Sept. 19, 1939. LQB. EMBR E 2,173,296

CLOTHES STICK Filed May 31, 19:58

INVENTOR. L ESTER B. Ems/2E5 BY "ATTORNEY I Patented Sept. 19, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to clothes sticks of the character for use in the manipulation of clothes while in a washing machine or boiler and for use in feeding the clothes in a heated, Wet condi- 5 tion to any conventional wringer means.

More particularly the invention relates to the provision of a clothes stick which is suited for the feeding of the clothes from the washing machine or boiler to a wringer with the specific 10 purpose in mind of preventing, to a satisfactory and measurable degree, the danger of tearing the fabrics. Additionally, the invention has for one of its objects the provision of means whereby the feeding of clothes to a wringer will be greatly l5 facilitated.

I am aware of the fact that the prior art contains a limited number of examples of sticks of one type or another which are used for the above mentioned purposes.

20 stitutes a distinct improvement over the prior art structures to the extent of a marked increase in efiiciency.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as this specification pro- 25 seeds and the novelty of my device will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing forming a part hereof,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my structure with a portion of the same broken away to reveal the 30 assembly of parts,

Figure 2 is a plan view of my device, and

Figure 3 is a section taken along the lines 3-3 of Figure 1.

In the preferred form of the invention illus- 35 trated in the drawing a stick III, of wood or any other material having similar characteristics, is provided with a conical shaped tip I I of metal, or any other material such as plastics and the like, which have a marked lack of cohesion for 49 clothes in a heated, wet condition.

The tip II is fitted to the stick I through the provision of the elongated frame member I2, integral with said tip, which is received in the slot I3, in stick Ii], and suitably attached thereto in 5 any conventional way, as by the rivets I4 and I5.

The frame I2 defines a slot I6 into which is fitted a retractable vane II. As is clearly illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawing, the vane II is pivotally mounted on rivet I5 and its free end.

50 I8 is normally urged out of the slot I3 by the U-shaped spring member 20 positioned between Vane I! and the bottom of frame member I2.

The pivotal action of vane I1 is limited by the provision of an elongated slot IS in its free end 55 I8 which engages rivet I4.

The present invention con- The operation of the device heretofore described is as follows: Turning stick I0 clockwise or counter-clockwise, until vane I1 is in a substantially horizontal plane, i. e., projecting from the side of stick, the selected garment is then engaged. The garment is then raised to the wringer and pressed toward the rollers which, uponengagement, draw the article of clothing off of the tip II and over the vane II. Vane I1 is retracted, against the urge of spring 20, by the 10 weight of the clothes moving toward the tip II and the rollers of the wringer.

By repeated experiments I have found that through the provision of a tip II of metal, or plastics or any other material having a marked lack of cohesion for clothes in a heated, wet condition, the feeding of the garment to the wringer is greatly facilitated. These experiments indicate beyond any question of a doubt that where a plain wooden stick is employed the same results are not obtainable.

This is undoubtedly due to the fact that wooden surfaces are found to be relatively coarse and splintery when closely examined even though they appear to be highly finished. This condi- .25 tion rapidly becomes aggravated when wood is subjected to the action of soapy water or preparations containing caustic washing materials.

It will be appreciated that while I have here shown and described only one form of my invention, the invention may nevertheless take many additional forms. Therefore, I do not limit myself to this form only but desire protection to the full extent of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A clothes stick of the class described comprising an elongated stick having a longitudinally extending slot in one end thereof, a frame member within said slot, said frame member having an integral cone-shaped exposed end forming a tip for said stick.

2. A clothes stick of the class described comprising an elongated stick having a longitudinally extending slot in one end thereof, a frame member within said slot, said framemember having an integral cone-shaped end forming a tip for said stick, a slot in said frame, and a vane pivotally mounted within said slot in said frame.

3. A clothes stick of the class described comprising an elongated stick having a longitudinally extending slot in one end thereof, a frame member within said slot, said frame member having an integral cone-shaped end forming a tip for said stick, a slot in said frame, a vane pivotally mounted within said slot in said frame, and a resilient member normally urging the free end of said vane out of said slot in said frame.

4. A clothes stick of the class described comprising an elongated stick having a longitudinally extending slot in one end thereof, a frame member within said slot, said frame member having an integral cone-shaped end forming a tip for said stick, a slot in said frame, a vane pivotally mounted within said slot in said frame, a resilient member normally urging the free end of said vane out of said slot in said frame, and means limiting the movement of said free end of said vane.

LESTER B. EMBREE. 

